Our Story

Victoria Jackson

Mom, wife, philanthropist, author, Hollywood makeup artist, entrepreneur, infomercial pioneer and founder of The Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation are a few of Victoria Jackson‘s titles. Pioneering a new approach to sales, Victoria became the first to market a cosmetics line on television with eleven international infomercials. With a 10-year run on QVC, Victoria Jackson Cosmetics became an international sales powerhouse, with over 600 beauty products that generated a billion dollars in sales.

As a teen, Victoria’s approach to surviving a sexual assault was to harness her personal need to reach out and empower women. Later, she became a passionate advocate and guest lectured on self-esteem, enhancing our natural beauty and embracing change. Over a period of 20 years, Victoria inspired women from all walks of life – in prisons, hospitals and youth support programs.

2008 was life-changing for Victoria with the news that her daughter had four years to live. Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO)-a devastating and rare autoimmune disease-became a new personal mission in Victoria and her daughter’s lives. Victoria and her husband, Bill Guthy-of the infomercial giant Guthy-Renker- established The Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation to fund life-saving research to help understand, treat and cure NMO. Solving NMO has now become her life’s work. Victoria has personally led the work of the Foundation to achieve quantum progress and at record speed.

Bill Guthy

The self-made entrepreneur and passionate philanthropist is the founding principal of direct marketing giant Guthy-Renker-the infomercial and e-commerce pioneer that generates more than $1.5 billion in annual sales. Since 1988, his company has created infomercials for notable brands such as Proactiv, Principal Secret, WEN hair care and more.

When Bill Guthy’s teenage daughter was diagnosed with NMO in 2008, Bill Guthy and his wife Victoria Jackson established the Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation to champion basic scientific research to find new treatments and ultimately a cure for NMO. Since the beginning, the Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation has put forward a new paradigm by funding and encouraging multi-disciplinary medical collaboration between research institutions, scientists and Pharma.

Ali Guthy

As an activist, advocate and author, Ali Guthy has committed herself to positively impacting the lives of others. Her NMO diagnosis as a teenager shaped her path as she became the face of this rare disease and the driving force behind the need for medical advancements. With a passion for public service, she has continued to use her gift as a natural leader even beyond The Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation.

In June 2015, Ali graduated with honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) with a double major in Psychology and Sociology. While at UCSB, she served as Associated Students President, representing the entire undergraduate student body. At UCSB, Ali also served as the Hunger-Houseless Coordinator for the Community Affairs Board (CAB), organizing weekly volunteer events to serve meals to the local houseless community. Additionally, Ali co-founded and served as President of Swipes for the Houseless, a program that enables students to donate unused meals from their college dining plan to those impacted by hunger.